An incisive analysis of the defence budget for 2017-18, in which AMIT COWSHISH infers that after providing for the committed liabilities, there may not be enough money left to sign contracts for everything that is on the shopping list of the services.
Mid-way through his budget speech on February 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that he had provided a sum of ₹2,74,114 crore in the union budget for defence expenditure, excluding the expenditure on defence pensions. The allocated sum includes ₹86,488 crore for capital expenditure.
The one-sentence announcement was interestingly preceded by a reference to a centralised Defence Travel System to facilitate online booking of travel tickets by the armed forces personnel and a web based interactive Pension Disbursement System to be established for the purpose of receiving pension proposals and making payments centrally.
This was an improvement on the last year’s budget speech which contained no reference to defence budget, if for no other reason than that it prevented reinforcement of the impression that absence of any reference to defence in the budget speech was symptomatic of the government’s apathy to the issues related to defence services.
But the reference to allocation for defence and the two schemes aimed at ameliorating the hardships the armed forces personnel face did nothing more than preventing this impression from taking deeper roots. It was certainly of little help in inspiring confidence that any paradigm shift in the defence policy is on the horizon.
Restructuring of the demands for grant presented by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to the parliament for 2016-17 and their re-packaging for 2017-18 make it extremely onerous to draw detailed comparisons between the proposed outlay for the next fiscal, the approved outlays for the current year and the actual expenditure for the previous years. But even macro-analysis, based on just two indicators, indicates that the annual growth for the next fiscal is anything but inspiring.
Denne historien er fra February 2017-utgaven av Geopolitics.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra February 2017-utgaven av Geopolitics.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
THE NEW WAVE OF MARINE LANDING CRAFT.
BAE Systems' new Littoral Strike Craft combines advanced stealth, comfort, and modularity to redefine modern amphibious mission capabilities.
PROVEN AIP FOR S80 SUBMARINES
The BEST AIP system is capable of operating at any depth and in all operational conditions, allowing it to adapt to any Navy mission and making it the most advanced AIP system on the market.
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF AI SECURE, SCALABLE, AND INNOVATIVE
Tardid leverages modular AI designs, robust cybersecurity, and adaptability to deliver secure and scalable solutions, integrating emerging technologies and refining strategies through realworld deployments, shares AASTHA VERMA, Chief Operating Officer, Tardid Technologies, with Geopolitics
TOT-AN IMPERATIVE FOR SUBMARINE MANUFACTURING
India's transition from offset strategies to fostering self-reliance through technology transfer (TOT) and local assembly highlights the significance of global collaborations like thyssenkrupp Marine Systems in shaping a robust, indigenised defence ecosystem, a perspective shared by KHALIL RAHMAN, CEO, thyssenkrupp Marine Systems India.
ENHANCING INDIAN NAVAL AVIATION
JYOTI SINGH reports how a powerful Indian naval air arm will prove to be the biggest seabased conventional level deterrence, both for the tactical and strategic battlefields
PROJECT-751-30 YEARS ON
India's ambitious Project-751, aimed at procuring six advanced submarines, remains stalled nearly three decades after its inception.
WINGS OVER THE OCEAN
Indian Naval Aviation is dramatically upgrading its combat potency with its latest inductions, writes Atul Chandra
HOW INDIA IS RESHAPING REGIONAL DETERRENCE, MARITIME DOMINANCE
In the theatre of modern geopolitics, control over the seas is synonymous with strategic dominance. With its vast coastline and critical position in the Indo-Pacific, India has always recognised the importance of maritime strength, outlines GIRISH LINGANNA
BUILDERS NAVY
The Indian Navy's modernisation efforts are picking up steam, with domestic shipyards running at full capacity, reports MIKE RAJKUMAR
THE NAVY'S NEED FOR SUBMARINES
While aircraft carriers have their place, submarines provide India with a more flexible, cost-effective, and survivable option for projecting power and maintaining deterrence in a complex and evolving strategic environment, argues AMIT GUPTA
